Credit needs for the entrepreneurial sector in the country reached $ 245 million.
The figure comes from the study "Proposal of policy, strategy and action plan for implementation of micro-finance services in Panama", created by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Ampyme) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Principal and interests will be guaranteed through a contigency loan granted by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to the issuing company.
“Partial Credit Guarantees” is the name of the project that CABEI is preparing to assist companies in accessing regulated capital markets in the Bank's member states.
David Castillo's article at Capitales.com, points that "the plan is similar to a Stand By Credit Letter or Safe Credit Letter.
Panamanian banks were prudent and dodged the crisis successfully; they are now full of cash, and eager to lend money.
With close to $13 billion in liquid assets, banks in Panama are getting ready to finance the Government’s large infrastructure projects, which require $2.4 billion in 2010 and $3.2 billion in 2011. In the 5 years of Martinelli’s government, the State is expected to invest around $15.6 billion.
Costa Rican banks are reporting an increase in loans, specially for industry, services, commerce and home building.
Event though stats for the first half of 2009 do not report an increase in the credit balance of the banking system, "bankers forecast higher loan growth than predicted by the Central Bank in its macroeconomic program revision. The Bank estimated credit growth at 4.3% in Colones and 3% in U.S. dollars."
Bank credit tightening makes it necessary to look for alternate private capital financing sources.
In the Elfinancierocr.com blog article "En numerous," Edgar Delgado Montoya outlined five options as a source of financing for both start ups and business expansion projects: Emerge Fund, Link Investment Caseif II, E + Co LAC, and E3 Corp.
Delgado Montoya said: "In addition to delving into very different sectors, investment banking operations are quite flexible as to how the manner in which resources can be administered to the receiving enterprise."
Ficohsa Bank announced that it will offer loans for projects at a rate of 10% with 7 year terms and a 3 year grace period.
The funds are coming from credit lines with BANHPROVI (Honduran Production and Housing Bank), and are oriented toward the growth of the country’s productive sector.
According to latribuna.hn, appropriations were earmarked for "urbanization and housing construction projects, and the construction of multiple commercial properties," among others.
In the 2 months that the Secured Transaction Registry has been operating, there have been 91 inscriptions for amounts of up to $20 million.
This registry allows companies to inscribe all types of assets and is seen by companes as a way to access more credit in the financial system.
In an article in sigloxxi.com, Juan Orlando Garcia Rivera, a registry official, indicated that the inscriptions have been made for large amounts of up to $20 million and that "an endless amount of property has been given as collateral such as: agricultural machinery, business inventories, credit titles, brands and trade names."
The law establishes a trust fund of $1.11 billion to be used by banks to finance productive investment.
According to the Cabinet Decree which was approved March 9, the resources should be directed to finance new productive investments or those that were begun after June, 2008.
The article in prensa.com indicated: "They can also be used as working capital to cover the needs for continued or expanded operation in the short term and for short-term loans (up to two years) for foreign trade."
An analysis of the changes in the dynamics of granting credit, in an interview with the Superintendent of the Salvadorian Financial System.
Luis Armando Montenegro, Superintendent of the Financial System, in an interview published in La Prensa Gráfica, responds to questions about the liquidity of the Salvadorian financial system, the contraction of external credit to the local banking system, changes in the granting of loans, and interest rates, among other issues.
It is indispensable for the economy to continue using credit to finance production and commercial operations.
The analysis by Raul Moreira published in the La Estrella in Panama emphasizes that "the demand for internal credit by the private sector was at $31.6 billion in October and continued to grow at 20.38%, while deposits had an increase of 24.69%, which shows that the main source of financing for the expansion of credit comes from domestic savings by individuals. Prudence and caution is recommended for credit policies and it is important to maintain the rhythm of capturing funding."
Fitch Ratings discusses the corporate credit environment throughout Latin America.
As can be seen in the charts on the following two pages, Latin American corporates have made tremendous improvements in their liquidity positions since the end of 2003 due to vibrant local capital markets, strong cash flow generation and significant deleveraging. The improvements have been broad-based, occurring within each market and across each issuer default rating (IDR) category. The charts also reveal a sharp downturn in the funds from operations (FFO) growth rate during the last twelve months (LTM) ended June 30, 2008, and a reduction in cash as a percentage of short-term debt.